Hi,
We have recently walked through a display house that we liked because of the open floor plan and room locations for our sloping lake lot. We have a meeting with a architectural engineer this Friday to discuss a custom plan using this floor plan to convey our ideas. We have been reading this forum for a long time and really respect everyones options. So we would like to get the forums feedback on likes, dislikes, changes you would recommend prior to our meeting with him.

Here is our info:
-We are soon to be empty nesters, but want a guest suite to accommodate overnight guests or possibly elderly parents
-The 4 acre lot is on a lake cove, with the view of the main lake looking out the corner of the breakfast/covered deck. We will try to angle the house as much as we can to get a better view from the great room. It is so heavily wooded it will only be in the winter anyway.
-We are on a tight budget and wondering about building in stages, for example: finishing off the main square footage with a general contractor and then finishing off the square footage where the other two smaller bedrooms and bath are later ourselves. We would designated this space as storage for the drawing plans. Pros's Con's ??
-We would like a three car garage set-up. Will have a boat.
-Want the GR fireplace to be on a interior wall that will allow more windows in great room
-Interested in making the second bedroom "a guest suite" with it's own bathroom and walk in closet. That location would be where bedroom 2 is located on the current plan. Some of the square footage of bedroom 3 could be garage space, storage, what ever. Not important to have a 3rd bedroom because if we would ever sell the dining/study can be called a 3rd bedroom
-We are growing old here and want things to be handicap accessible
-Want the build to be efficient keeping cost saving in mind but still want character on the front elevation.
- Will have a walkout basement that will be finished off later with 2 bedrooms & recreation room
- Would like the great room a little larger
- Want a side entry garage. Maybe two bays then a single
- We are using our savings to build this. No loans. That is another reason I would like to find out if we can hold off on finishing the extra bedrooms. If we would encounter a large unexpected expense during the build, we have the option of putting the bedrooms off for a short time until we recover.

Thank You for your help!

This post was edited by KayakCove on Thu, Jun 19, 14 at 15:21